Canada is cracking down on ‘flagpoling’ at the border. What is it?
Canadian border agents will no longer provide new or renewed work and study permits to flagpolers in a bid to focus on “core port of entry activities, such as keeping Canadian communities safe from guns and drugs.”
Updated 20 hrs ago
Dec. 24, 2024
Flagpoling, no longer allowed as of midnight Monday, is when someone with temporary resident status in Canada leaves the country before re-entering to apply for a work or study permit at a land border crossing.
By Nathan BawaanStaff Reporter
The Canadian government is putting an end to “flagpoling” in one of its first new immigration initiatives as part of a response to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threat and call for stricter border measures.
As of midnight on Monday, flagpoling is no longer allowed. It’s the practise where someone with temporary resident status in Canada leaves the country, often going to the U.S. or Saint Pierre and Miquelon — a French territory off the southern coast of Newfoundland — before re-entering Canada to apply for a work or study permit at a border crossing.
Tuesday’s measure was first announced last week by Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Immigration Minister Marc Miller. They outlined how the federal government planned to spend $1.3 billion in border security measures as the incoming Trump administration threatens to enforce a 25 per cent tariff over its concerns with the border.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/canada-is-cracking-down-on-flagpoling-at-the-border-what-is-it/article_0c3b9ac2-c22a-11ef-9939-27e8a245c449.html
